Gemma's journeys across Christmas-themed places have taken her to a favorite location: Calas Galadhon Park. The region is not static, but it's owners Ty Tenk and Truck Meredith make changes every season. Every Christmas, they do something special, and when Gemma traveled over to see what they were, she found some sights to behold.Read Gemma's story in Places.

Net Neutrality has become an issue in recent weeks when the Chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, released a report calling for the repeal of laws protecting it. The result was numerous protests from individuals. But corporations and organizations have also joined the fight calling for Net Neutrality's continued protection. On Tuesday December 12, Linden Lab joined the number of businesses in it's support.

We
at Linden Lab believe that net neutrality is extremely important.
Lifting the FCC’s Open Internet Rules would not only jeopardize the
experience of Residents using Second Life, but can also negatively
impact all aspects of our online lives.

Later
this week, Congress will vote on this issue, and we encourage Second
Life residents to join us in calling on our representatives to preserve
net neutrality.

To that end, we have joined the “Break the Internet” initiative,
and if you visit SecondLife.com or login to Second Life today, you’ll
notice a pop-up tool (snapshot below) that makes it easy to send a
message in support of net neutrality. Of course, if you’d prefer not to
use this, you can simply close the pop-up and login as usual, but we
hope you’ll consider adding your voice to this important issue.

"Break the Internet" is a page that offers a number of ways to protest the move to remove Net Neutrality, from calling local representatives and senators, to spreading awareness, such as the following video.

It's that time of year again....a week from Christmas and just so damn tired of the saccharine sickeningly sweet yule tide pablum being spoon fed down our throats by every media outlet in the world to make sure they get their share of the pie. It's enough to make even the most charitable soul scream "Bah Humbug!" So on that note, it's time for the "Twisted Christmas" special event. This event will have numerous funny songs and parodies from mild to wild to "Oh-Em-Eff-Gee, what were they thinking?!" There will be adult songs, so those with sensitive ears beware. So come on over and "stick it" to the sappy side of Xmas.

The Library is running a writing competition again finally. This time you can thank Milo as the idea to write letters to Santa was his, and he has generously donated a sizable prize to start the prize pool. Details and instructions are in the attached card. It is open to everyone so feel free to pass a copy to your friends.

Uh oh! Christmas is coming, that goose is looking pretty tasty, there are lights and things going up, undercover elves spying on us all a lot more noticably and not even in stealth mode anymore. It must be time to write that letter to Santa!

RULES

1) There is ONE prize. Send in the best letter and you take home the prize.
2) The rating is G. G-rated content only.
3) Notecards must have both your SL LEGACY NAME and your CHOSEN PEN NAME. Display names change too often, legacy names stay.
4) All submissions must be set on full perm notecards and placed in the scroll case drop box on the library table.
5) Copies of this rule card can be picked up from the inkwell in the library table if needed.
6) These entries will be archived on the library forum. They will also be read in a video placed on Youtube for the library's audio archiving. This is why if you don't want your SL Legacy name out there it is important to have a pen name chosen.

JUDGES
Amehana Ishtari and Milo (decitrex) are the judges. If a tiebreaker is needed they will enlist a third judge that is not competing.

PRIZE
The contest prize pool currently is 1,038$L started off with the first donation being ponied up by Milo (decitrex). It may increase depending on any donations received (please send those to Hanaarashi Resident, who is the contest bank account/alt of Amehana Ishtari) or through the pile of books on the library table.

Monday, December 11, 2017

We all feel down at times. But some of us have real problems falling into and staying in dark moods. Depression can be crippling, and can lead to a final end: suicide. Suicide is a major form of death, with tens of thousands in America and almost a million worldwide taking their own lives despite it being against practically every major religion and philosophy. Fortunately, there are numerous organizations and groups devoted to helping those at risk. In Second Life, one such group is the "Survivors of Suicide." It has moved on to help anyone or friends of someone with depression, but it was created for those who either attempted suicide, those at risk of it, or friends and family of them. The Newser recently sat down with the current head of the group, Sebastien Bouevier, and he talked about Survivors of Suicide and what it does.

Gachas can be a lot of fun. And by all means it's not just full-sized avatars that enjoy them. Those who prefer child avatars like them just as much, unless they have a lot of items they can't use such as clothes too big to fit them. Fortunately for them, there's the Little Diva Gacha Garden. This is a gacha designed with child avies in mind, and have some items the grown-ups can use as well. Alura Denver took a look to see what was available.

In real life news, Time Magazine just announced their Man of the Year, or rather "Persons of the Year," known as "The Silence Breakers." This is an annual tradition of theirs going back since they first gave the title to Charles Lindbergh
in 1927, the man, woman, or sometimes group of people or object, whom
they feel had the most impact in the news in the past year for good or
ill. While often seen as a badge of honor, the title has on occasion
gone to some villainous figures such as Joseph Stalin and Ayatollah
Khomeini. And once in a while it goes to an object, such as the
computer.

But what about Second Life? Who here has had the most significant impact in the news about the virtual world?

There's been no shortage of news in the past year from the release of Sansar, to noted residents to departed the Grid, to charity groups such as the Relay for Life, to the plans by the FCC to repeal Net Neutrality which could be potentially very bad for Second Life, and more.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

7PM Saturday, December 9th and Sunday, December 10th at Magicland Park, Main Street

Magicland pays tribute to the classic celebration that began in Disneyland over 55 years ago: a combination of carols, music, and the story of the Christian Nativity. Caledonia Skytower narrates along with performers from the Magicland Cast.

Friday, December 8, 2017

BekNos (Becky Nosferatu) and Moff (MoffettMephit Resident) invited me to a new sim they and others have been working on: Monticito Bay. Built to resemble a coastal resort city of the American South in the mid-20th Century, there was quite a bit there, from store areas, to rentals, to venues, room for special events, and much scenery, a couple with small stories as to how they got started.

It used to be if we paid money to play a game, whether all at once for a console game or monthly for an MMO, that was it. If a game was free to play, that the makers would offer a few items to make gameplay easier for a few bucks was accepted. So what happens when a game noted for it's multiplayer mode with player versus player combat, which you have to pay sixty to eighty dollars to play to begin with, starts offering people the chance to buy the loot boxes needed to advance? A lot of controversy, comparisons to online gambling, and talk of the government getting involved.

Winter has come to the Sunweaver Estates. Shockwave Yareach, a noted builder with accomplishments such as various Relay Weekend campsites, who owns Sunweaver Eclipse informed the Newser the place had recently taken on a look of ice and snow, suggesting it was not exactly deliberate, "My freeze ray has rendered my hot tropical island a winter wonderland. Had a we bit o trouble with the liquid nitrogen. Sadly the ray was supposed to defrost hot dogs. But oh well."

Dropping by, the sea around the island was indeed iced over. One could walk around the place without falling through to the sea floor. Perfect for skating, if one had some skates. The ice extended to the SunWater Three sim, so one could walk or skate between the two islands, or north of the larger one. The middle of the Eclipse island also had some snow, and some winterized and Christmas trees, as well as some decorations.

But this wasn't all. Later Shockwave messaged me of a new development out of a "Calvin and Hobbes" comic plot, "Oh no!! Roving snowgoons have invaded my sim!!" It turned out he wanted to see what would happen if he put a little code in some snowmen. But the results, not unlike with Calvin, didn't exactly go to plan as he now had a mess of scary snowmen crawling around, "Now they roam my sim."

So to get a look at the Sunweaver Estate's wintry corner, snowgoons and all, head to the Sunweaver Eclipse sim.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Going to the USS Arizona Memorial at the Oahu sim turned out to be a no-go yesterday as the sim was closed to the public. The reason, it was "Under Construction." Having an alt join the group, the place should be reopened on December 9 to a "Grand Opening" party.

As it turns out, Oahu has a couple neighbors now, and the memorial can be seen from the Pacific West sim by turning the draw distance way up, panning around, and waiting for the image to clear up. But stepping onto the Oahu sim will result in a warning to get off or be teleported away.

Beginning on December 9 presumably, the memorial can be found at Oahu (176/22/23). The reproduction of the real-life memorial to those who lost their lives on the USS Arizona on the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Empire. About half of the over 2300 killed in the attack perished on the ship. The memorial was online for several years, including for a Pearl Harbor 70th Anniversary memorial event in 2011. The sim would be down for several months last year until it was reopened in January this year.

Supporters of our efforts in Second Life for Homes For Our Troops really got in the spirit of giving for November 2017. We were able to collect a little over $1350 for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life during the month of November. This act of kindness was only possible because of some special people in Second Life.